Let the Dehydration Begin!

Since local strawberries are finally in season, its time for dehydrating! Dan's secret passion is to dehydrate fruit for his granola. He finds it quite exciting and fun. My guess is that it has something to do with being able to eat fresh local fruit throughout the entire year. Nothing beats strawberries (or any berry) in your granola. Just wait for raspberries, blueberries and cherries to come into season. I can see his mind reeling with what else he can throw in there. I've already heard peaches and pineapple being tossed out there!

A Revelation

I can't believe its taken me five years of marriage to figure this out. And the saddest part? I figured it out in a semi-sleep deprived state, two weeks after giving birth to my second child.

I have this routine in the middle of the night when I wake up and Dan's snoring/heavy breathing is annoying me. I turn over and in this order hope that his snoring will end.
#1. Give him a death glare
#2. Gently tell him to stop snoring
#3. (Now completely annoyed) I hiss, STOP IT!

Dan's response (in this order)
#1. Sniff his nose
#2. Gently lift himself up and reposition himself in the exact same spot (and continues snoring)
#3. Tells me, "I'm not snoring"
#4.  Huffs and turns over

Now, I'm wondering if anyone can see a problem with this (other than the fact that it doesn't work)? The problem lies with me. In my initial response to Dan's snoring. I'm giving the death glare to someone whose eyes are shut. He can't see me! I don't know why I haven't figured this out before. And why every night I get more and more annoyed that my death glare doesn't work. Yep! I'm not the smartest tool in the shed. But at least I figured it out before I killed him!

Footnote: Do you know what the worst part of all of this is? After figuring out that he can't see me when I give him the death glare, I still do it! Every night since I have given him the death glare while he snores away. You think I would figure it out or something!

Micah Samuel

Smiles!

Sleeping Beauty

The boys on Father's Day

Deep in Thought

Old Man Hair (aka comb over)

Little Tongue

Breakfast Thief

Joel already had a big bowl of cheerios. But then, my breakfast just seemed to tempting.

He asked for my plate and I offered it to him. That was my first mistake. He devoured a whole piece of toast and most of the hash browns.

Finally Dan got me my own plate (after he was done laughing). I stole a piece of toast (or what was left of it), the scrambled eggs and a few hash browns. Needless to say, I was still hungry by the end of it and Joel didn't need lunch.

Lean, Mean, Milking Machine

Its no surprise that Micah gained 6 ounces in only 3 days. I am a lean, mean milking machine. Sometimes I feel more like a cow than a mom. But thanks to some great preparation and a wonderful device, I am a lot happier this time around with my milk production. The "Milkie, Milk Saver" has saved me a lot of frustration. When I had Joel, I would literally use a bottle to catch my extra milk on the opposite side I was feeding. I could get anywhere from 6-12 ounces per feed. It was overabundance at its best. Thankfully, with Micah, I only leak about 2 ounces per feed. That is where the milk saver has "saved" me. I just slip it into my bra on the opposite side and it catches all the extra milk for me. No trying to balance a bottle and constantly spilling it all over me. I can then easily transfer it into bottles and freeze it for later. Every day I freeze 12 ounces! Our freezer is quickly becoming full again. But I'm ready to call the Milk Bank on Monday and offer my milk again. I just have too much for our family and I know that there are those who could benefit from it.  Plus, I had such a great experience the last time around that I would love to do it again. And now that I know my milk is still in abundant supply, I feel confident enough to donate the extra. After all, God gave me enough to feed my family and share with others.

 

Sharing is such sweet sorrow

Not exactly thrilled with the concept of sharing, Micah resists Joel's gesture.

Joel continues to push the idea of sharing, right down Micah's throat.

Finally Micah understands that sharing isn't that bad and he embraces the concept.

Brotherly Love

 

Community of Sorrow

"Out of my bondage, sorrow, and night,
Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
Into Thy freedom, gladness, and light,
Jesus, I come to Thee;
Out of my sickness, into Thy health,
Out of my want and into Thy wealth,
Out of my sin and into Thyself,
Jesus, I come to Thee."

Being a part of community isn't always full of joy. Today has been filled with sorrow. A dear friend of ours, who had a baby due around the same time as us, is dealing with unspeakable sadness. Her baby was born via C-section, and whisked away. A week later, her baby passed away. She only got to hold her little baby girl once.

Today we recieved news of her baby's passing. We are shocked and saddened. We pray for her and her family, and ask you to do the same. We have spent time in tears, prayer and shock. We have held our little boys close, thanking God for their lives. And our hearts ache for our friend whose arms are now empty. We wonder how we can support her from half a world away.

When I worked at Langley Memorial Hospital as a baby photographer, I was informed of what they call the "butterfly room." Whenever a baby was born and passed away, a butterfly was placed on the door to imform all staff and visitors that the family was dealing with a loss. A few hours after we recieved this news, I was praying about what we could do to support our friend from so far away. God placed "a butterfly" on my heart. I knew what He meant. I spent a few moments trying to get creative on how to create a butterfly. I'm not an artist by any stretch of the imagination, so this was difficult for me. I wanted the butterfly to remind our family of the loss of this little baby and to remind us to cherish our children. It was then that God brought to mind little feet. Dan and I, together with Joel and Micah created a butterfly to place in our home. Each one of us has put a piece of ourselves into it. It may not be beautiful or even look like a butterfly to some, but to our family its a stricking reminder of little Maria. Her name is placed in the antennae of the butterfly to remind us to pray for her family.

Today has brought sorrow and we have spent the day learning how to mourn from afar. But we know that even though we are miles away, we have been brought closer through our grief. As a Christian community, our thoughts and prayers can close the gap.  

"Out of my bondage, sorrow, and night,
Jesus, We come to Thee."

Church Community

Today, my Dad and Shannon came to visit Micah. While they were here, Mary Derksen came over to pick up her casserole dish from a meal she had cooked earlier in the week (thanks again!). I told them that the church provides a weeks worth of meal (thanks for organizing that Greg and Karmen) to a family after they have a baby. Shannon exclaimed to my Dad, "See! That's why we should join a church!"

Her comment stuck with me. We are blessed to be a part of a church community that values one another. We take care of each other.

My dad's comment afterward floored me. "But then you know who would be calling. People would want us to cook for them too." In his selfishness, he missed the point. Community is about helping one another and being helped. Its about giving and taking. Its about caring for one another. Little does he know, but not 8 weeks earlier, we were the ones bringing the meal to another family who just had a baby (hi Darnell and Christina). Its a reciprocal gesture.

Community to us has always been important. We can't imagine having to cook meals after just having a baby. It would be too much work and we'd probably end up "finger cooking" (ordering in). We've heard many stories of people who had to cook meals for their entire extended families 24 hours post-partum.  (Can you imagine?) Many people we've talked to have been amazed by the generosity of the church. And to be honest, we are too. We don't take it for granted. We are truly blessed by the community that surrounds us. And the best part? It goes beyond just meals. Its the warmth you feel when they offer to get groceries for you. Its the thought behind the question, "Do you need anything?" Its the blessing of having them run after your toddler when you are 9 months pregnant. Its the smiles and hugs they give. Its the encouragement they give you with a squeeze of the shoulder when your unruly toddler is fussing in church (thanks Margaret). Its the joy you see in their eyes as they watch your family grow. It the desire to hold your newborn and play with your toddler. Its the laughter you see when your toddler makes a break for it during the service.

Its a blessing to us to be a part of a church community and all that it entails, both the giving and the receiving, the joys and the sorrows.  Perhaps they should join the church and see what community is really all about.

More Photos

Family Portrait

Snuggles with mommy

Joel LOVING Micah!!

Sleeping Beauty (Dan calls it butt crack chin)


Who can resist these little feet??

Enough already! STOP the PAPARAZZI!